Nielsen Media Research has released its top ten most played consoles and PC …

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Despite the plethora of high profile game releases and a trio of flashy current-generation consoles, Nielsen Media Research is reporting that a four-year-old game and a nine-year-old console were the most played items of 2008. The report listed the top ten for each category, ranking PC games by time played per week, and consoles by "usage minutes," or the average amount of time spent with a system.

The PlaySation 2 topped the console usage list, with an average of 31.7 minutes played. Following it were the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Xbox, PlayStation 3, and GameCube, in that order. The report also contained an "Other" category, which according to Nielsen, refers to "any other console found in the home." This fell right in between the 360 and Wii in terms of usage minutes.

In terms of PC games, World of Warcraft unsurprisingly dominated the list, with players spending an average of 671 minutes per week playing it. Call of Duty 4 was a distant second, followed by Halo, The Sims, The Sims 2, RuneScape, Diablo II, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, and Counter-Strike: Source Valve.

Given the sheer number of PS2s out there, it's not really all that surprising that the console was played more than any other. However, it is a bit surprising that the PS3 was rated so low; it fell behind the original Xbox. In terms of PC games, it's worth noting that the list is dominated by older games, without a single 2008 release cracking the top 10.